Indy 500 lands two more drivers: Entry list grows, Bump Day looms

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing have renewed their partnership with Cusick Motorsports and formally announced their two drivers for the 108th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this coming May.

2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, who competed for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in last year's Indy 500, is set to drive the No. 23 Chevrolet for the second consecutive year. Conor Daly, who had competed for Ed Carpenter Racing in the Indy 500 every year since 2020, is set to drive the No. 24 Chevrolet.

The two drivers, both of whom had been linked to these two seats for the last several weeks, are the 30th and 31st confirmed drivers on the entry list for the 200-lap "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval, and it continues to look overwhelmingly likely that bumping will be required to set this year's field of 33.

Indy 500 Bump Day nears

Should there be a Bump Day in 2024, it would be the third in the last four years and the fifth in the last seven.

Abel Motorsports are on track to bring back the No. 50 Chevrolet for R.C. Enerson, and it is still expected that Dale Coyne Racing will run two cars full-time. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, and Abel Motorsports have all been linked to potential additional entries as well.

The entry list featured 34 cars last year. It most recently featured 35 in 2021, and it most recently featured 36 in 2019, but it hasn't featured 37 since 2011, when it featured 41.

Hunter-Reay's No. 23 Chevrolet and Daly's No. 24 Chevrolet are among six confirmed Indy 500-only entries thus far.

Andretti Global are set to field the No. 98 Honda for Marco Andretti, Meyer Shank Racing are set to field the No. 06 Honda for Helio Castroneves, Arrow-McLaren are set to field the No. 17 Chevrolet for rookie Kyle Larson, and Ed Carpenter Racing are set to field a Chevrolet for rookie Christian Rasmussen.

Rasmussen is set to drive the No. 20 Chevrolet in the road and street course races during the 2024 season, but with team owner Ed Carpenter slated to drive the car in all of the oval races, the rookie's Indy 500 entry is indeed a one-off entry.

Indy 500 qualifying is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19. The race itself is set to be broadcast live on NBC from the "Racing Capital of the World" beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 26. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!